Award win for data visualisation

14 Oct 2022 10:16 AM

The Operational Support Team at 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic) have received the Best Data Visualisation award at the 2022 DataIQ awards.

Beating competitors including British Airways, Ikea, and Specsavers, the team received the prestigious title for their visualisation of data which is now used on a global scale.

From military deployments across the world to major scale events in the UK such as COP26, Platinum Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games, the work of the team has been crucial in speeding up and increasing the effectiveness of decision-making.

The data visualisation allows commanders of troops deployed in Estonia and Mali to understand complex situations and explore possible options in a way more effective than paper maps previously used.

The capabilities also offer benefits on a much broader scale than operations, with data being vital to the success of the COVID-19 mass testing and forming the dashboard of key assets for the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.

Due to the effectiveness of the new visualisation tools, the methods are now being adopted by the NATO geospatial community expanding the benefits to partner nations to bolster our combined security.

Speaking about the team’s win Caroline Bellamy, the Chief Data Officer for Defence, said:

The incredible data and digital work that is done right across the military and wider MoD is of the highest order. It’s superb to see this and be part of amplifying not only what we do but how important it is.

Team Commander, Captain Damon Mitchell, expressed his pride in the team’s success saying:

I am extremely proud to be part of a small team that are able to be recognised and compete against the likes of British Airways. To win an award in recognition for the support we provide to teams across UK and global operations is an honour and something the team and our regiment are very proud of.

Alongside the team’s success, four individuals from the wider Royal Engineer (Geographic) diaspora were announced as finalists across the spectrum of awards for the work they do in harnessing the power of spatial data for users across Defence.